Start early.
As soon as we knew that we were definitely having a baby, we started telling Annabelle she was going to be a big sister. I wanted to prepare her as much as possible for the huge change that would be happening in her life.
Find a kid show about siblings.
Thankfully one of her favorite shows, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” has two episodes about his growing family and a new baby sister. She first watched these episodes before we even knew we were going to be adding to our family, so it was easy to reference the show when we were explaining how our lives were going to change.
Point out real-life examples.
We tried to make a point of acknowledging little girls with siblings when we would be out and about. I would often tell her stories about my own sister – her auntie – and we would talk about friends she had with a baby brother or sister. It can be hard to teach a toddler about something that has not happened yet, but Annabelle has always been understanding of rather mature topics.
Make the first meeting special.
A few friends advised us to keep the moment when Annabelle meets Ailey very special, but also private. They recommended we would keep the meeting intimate and to be hesitant with how much attention we gave the baby over the big sister.
Be prepared for anything.
I truly did not know how Annabelle would react the first time she saw her sister, so I didn’t have any expectations. If she cried or was mean, there really wouldn’t be anything I could do considering the state I would be in after labor. Brandon and I discussed possible scenarios We lucked out – because Annabelle was excited, shy, happy, and everything else we hoped for.
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